CDC: HPV-associated cancers strike more than 30,000 yearly

(HealthDay News) -- Cancers associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) are diagnosed in nearly 11 out of 100,000 men and women in the United States annually, and HPV vaccines play an important role in reducing the incidence of those cancers for which screening is not approved, according to a report published in the April 20 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report.

Xiaocheng Wu, M.D., of the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed 2004 to 2008 data from both the National Program of Cancer Registries and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program to assess the incidence of HPV-associated cancers in the United States.

The researchers established an incidence of 33,369 HPV-associated cancers diagnosed each year, of which 21,290 were among women and 12,080 were among men. Furthermore, they estimated that 26,000 new cancers -- 18,000 among women and 8,000 among men -- could be directly attributed to HPV.

"Cervical cancer rates have decreased in the United States, largely as a result of the success of screening, but disparities still remain. HPV vaccine likely will help decrease cervical cancer rates further and reduce the disparities," the authors write. "Other HPV-associated cancers do not have approved screening programs; therefore, HPV vaccines are important prevention tools to reduce the incidence of noncervical cancers."